


World's Finest: The Next Generation

by Aviditas04



Category: DCU (Comics)
Genre: Blackest Night, Final Crisis (DCU), Infinite Crisis (DCU), M/M, Pre-Flashpoint, Sinestro Corps War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-15
Updated: 2014-06-15
Packaged: 2018-02-04 19:03:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1789819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aviditas04/pseuds/Aviditas04
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A reworking of the history of the pre-Flashpoint DC Universe following the relationship of Connor Kent and Tim Drake, going from their origins to the Brightest Day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	World's Finest: The Next Generation

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally published as an 18th birthday fic for Superboy on Fanfiction, and now I'm publishing it here in preparation for the publishing of my 21st birthday fic for Connor Kent. Though it covers all of Tim and Kon's history, some sections are quite brief due to my lack of comics regarding the duo.

**World’s Finest: The Next Generation**

**Beginnings**

 

Eight years after his visit to Haley’s Circus, Timothy Drake has finally revealed a secret he had kept for four of those years: he knows the true identity of Gotham’s most mysterious citizen: the Batman. And he has revealed that knowledge to the person that helped reveal Batman’s identity, Batman’s former partner/protégé, Dick Grayson/Robin I/Nightwing, in the hopes that he can save Batman from becoming the thing he fights. For the past six months, ever since the death of Jason Todd/Robin II, Batman has become more and more ruthless in his fights, often putting the criminals in hospitals before jail. Tim had hoped to convince Dick to become Robin again, but instead Tim is about to gain the opportunity of a lifetime, an opportunity that will change his life forever . . .

 

After nearly ten years of protecting Metropolis, Superman is about to face his toughest foe ever. “That’s the guy, Superman. He’s the one who took the Justice League apart at the seams.” The speaker was Booster Gold, a member of the aforementioned Justice League. A former football player from the future, he decided to build a suit and go to the past to become a superhero, and hopefully make a quick buck on the side.

“What is it you called him, Booster?” Superman asked just as he landed in front of the creature. “Oh, yeah . . . Doomsday.” And so began the hardest fight that Superman ever faced.

A few hours later, the battle has left a path of destruction stretching from Ohio to the steps of the Daily Planet in Metropolis. And like weary boxers who have gone the distance, the combatants collide in one last, explosive effort. In the years to come, a few witnesses will tell of the power of those final punches, that they could literally _feel_ the shockwaves. Others will remember the enormous crater that resulted from the sheer force of the blows. But most will remember this sad day-as the day the proudest, most noble man they ever knew . . . finally fell. For those who loved him-one who would call him husband, one who would be his pal, or those who would call him son-this is the darkest day they could ever imagine. They raised him to be a hero, to know the value of sacrifice. To know the value of _life_. And for those who served with Superman in the protection of all life, comes the shock of failure. The weight of being too late to help. The mysterious Bloodwynd insists that “He _must_ survive. It cannot end like this!” But it will. For a city to live, a man had given his all and more. For this is the day that a Superman died . . .

 

The day after Superman died, Paul Westfield of Project Cadmus was already trying to take his body, but he was stopped by Lex Luthor and the mayor of Metropolis. And he wasn’t the last to try to profit from the death of Superman. On November 3, the day of his funeral, Rex Leech tried to buy the rights to the death photo from Jimmy Olsen, but after he was taken down by Olsen and Robin, it was a fairly peaceful funeral, with the President giving the eulogy. For pallbearers, they chose Hal Jordan/Green Lantern, Diana/Wonder Woman, Matrix/Supergirl, Billy Batson/Captain Marvel, Wally West/Flash, and Dick Grayson/Nightwing. Then, on Thanksgiving, Westfield stole Superman’s body from it’s tomb, taking it to Project Cadmus for study . . .

 

Eventually, the scientists of Cadmus managed to get an approximation of Superman’s DNA and attempted to clone him. They were not having much luck. “I’m sorry, Westfield, but we’ve tried twelve times, and every clone we’ve made so far is unstable. They’ve all ended up like that Bizarro creature from eight years ago. I’m not sure if we _can_ clone Superman.”

“I’m aware of our failure, Dr. Tompkins. That’s why I’ve called in someone far smarter than any of us. Lex Luthor is coming in to help us with this, _today_.”

Just then, Luthor came into the lab where they were working. But it wasn’t the Luthor they were expecting. The Cadmus scientists had been expecting the young, red-headed, Australian raised son of Lex Luthor. But the man that came in was most definitely _not_ the Australian. Instead, it seemed to be the _original_ Luthor, someone who was supposed to have been dead for about two years. “Don’t worry about having anymore problems cloning Superman, Dr. Westfield. I have already solved the problem of the instability in the clones that led to Bizarro. What you need to do is combine Superman’s Kryptonian DNA with a human’s, in effect, creating a hybrid.”

“Of course! The human DNA would stabilize the Kryptonian, while still leaving the clone with Superman’s abilities! Get right on it, Dr. Rodrigues, and use _my_ DNA to stabilize the clone. I don’t know how to thank you, Mr. Luthor, you have given us the chance to finish our work, and give Metropolis it’s defender back.”

“There _is_ a way that you could thank me, Westfield.”

“How? We’d do anything!”

“Don’t use your DNA, use mine. I’ve already prepared a vial for you to use.” Luthor pulled out a vial of blood, and handed it to Westfield.

“Of course, Mr. Luthor. What better way to thank you than to make the first clone with your DNA? Rodrigues! Cancel that last order, use Mr. Luthor’s blood for the first batch, use mine for the second batch.” Finally, after nearly three months, they’d had a breakthrough. Project: Superman was back on track . . .

 

Lois was quite upset when a kid dressed in a version of Superman’s costume, claiming to _be_ Superman, showed up in her office. “I don’t have time for this. The _real_ Superman was at least old enough to shave. Besides, he had black hair, not brown.”

The kid reached up and rubbed the top of his head. “Yeah, I’m kind of curious about that myself. And since you asked, it’s supposed to be a secret, but, well . . . I’m a clone of Superman!” Within weeks, the Metropolis Kid/Superboy became a celebrity, with the help of Tana Moon and WGBS television. A number of people came forward, trying to make a quick buck by becoming Superboy’s agent, but he turned them all down. When Rex Leech made his offer, Superboy was a little tempted, until he heard what Leech had tried to do at Superman’s funeral, after which, Leech needed about six months before he was able to speak clearly. Luthor’s offer was just as tempting, but something in him kept Superboy from saying yes. It was almost like something in his blood was telling him to stay away from Luthor . . .

 

**Meetings and Teams**

 

The first meeting between Superboy and Robin did not start off well. Metallo had moved from his usual haunts in Metropolis to Gotham, and Robin was forced to contact Superboy in order to stop him. At first, they didn’t get along well. Superboy thought that Robin was a nobody, while Tim thought that Superboy was a glory-hounding playboy, which _had_ been true. But to everyone’s surprise, including Superboy’s, he went completely celibate after meeting Tim, not even Poison Ivy’s pheromones affected him . . .

 

Whenever they could, Tim and the newly named Kon worked together, and when they had a chance to work together on a regular basis as members of a team, they jumped at it. Tim quickly became the leader of Young Justice, and Kon almost always backed him up, no matter who was arguing against him. The worst argument they ever had was during the war against Imperiex (when Tim refused to go after the Black Racer/Death to save Steel, preferring to stick with their given mission,) but they made up quickly (especially considering Kon was one of the few members of the team that still trusted him.) The two friends trusted each other with _everything_ , Robin even trusted Kon enough to tell him his real name, even though he told the rest of Young Justice an obviously false name: Alvin Draper, and despite the fact that Batman had forbidden Tim to share his real name. And to protect the fact that he actually did know about Robin’s real name, Kon went along with the other member’s attempts to find out Robin’s name, although he usually steered them in the wrong direction. When Kon’s clone, code-named Match, kidnapped Kon and briefly took his place, Tim was the only one to realize it. When he brought it up to the rest of the team, they all chalked it up to classic Bat paranoia, until he was proven right.

When Young Justice broke up, the teammates all promised to keep in touch, but the only ones who did were Kon and Tim. And as the months went by, they grew even closer than they had, close enough to consider each other brothers. Then they joined together to recreate the Teen Titans, and that’s when things got complicated.

 

**A Terrible Future and Genetics**

 

A few months into their time in the Titans, Kon, Tim, Bart Allen/Kid Flash and Cassie Sandsmark/Wonder Girl were thrown ten years into their future. While there, they realized that many of their older selves were _not_ heroes anymore, but killers. Batman-Tim carried a gun, the same gun that killed Bruce’s parents, and Superman-Kon willingly tortured people. In essence, the Titans West had become murderous dictators. “What can I say? It’s all thanks to Pa’s leadership,” Superman-Kon had told his earlier self in a private discussion. When Kon asked what he meant, he responded “Right now, you’re just an empty shell, and no one’s going to be able to fill that void. Nobody but Pa, someday you’ll be proud to be a Luthor.” Naturally, Kon was upset about it, and the first thing he did when they got home was tell Tim.

 

“What if it’s true, Tim? What if I am half Luthor? What then?” Tim had just hacked into the Cadmus database, and their records showed that Luthor was indeed the official genetic donor. Tim still had some doubts though, and was hoping to find out who Kon’s other parent was for sure. After all, computer records can be altered to show all kinds of lies.

Tim smiled at his friend. “It doesn’t change things, Kon. You’ll still be my best friend, but if you want, I can find out for sure. I can do a DNA scan for you and find out if it is true.” Kon readily agreed to it, pulling out a strand of hair for Tim’s analysis. “No matter what this says, it doesn’t change things between us, Kon.”

“How could it not though? If he was telling the truth, that means I’ve got a 50% disposition to be evil.”

Tim thought about arguing with Kon but thought of another way to prove it. He grabbed his friend by the neck, pulled him close, and started kissing him. About five minutes later, Tim pulled back. “ _That’s_ why it doesn’t matter, Kon. It doesn’t matter because I love you, I have for years now. I just didn’t say anything because I didn’t know how you’d react. Right now, I don’t care, I’d rather know how you feel than have you worry about genetics.”

For a minute, Kon just stood there, speechless. Tim _loved_ him? _Tim_ , his best friend in the whole world, Tim who he’d had a crush on since the day he met him, loved him? Even if he was half Luthor? Kon did the one thing he could think of at the moment, he kissed Tim back. They continued making out until they heard the beeping of the monitor. “Shouldn’t we check it?”

Tim smiled, and said “No matter what, I still love you, Kon.” The display of the results surprised them. _Sample A is 50% Sample B, 0% Sample C._

“So, what does that mean?”

“It means that we didn’t go to the future, Kon. Sample A is yours, Sample B is Clark’s, and Sample C was Luthor’s. It means that someone else was your human donor, we just need to find out who now. I’ll let the computer search through the Watchtower’s database, see if it can find a match.” After he set the computer on it, he turned to Kon. “So, did that impromptu make-out session mean that you love me too?”

“Yeah, it does. When I first saw you, it was like gravity shifted. It wasn’t the earth keeping me on the ground, it was you. You’ve become my sun and stars, and my reason to live. You are my everything, Tim.” Tim smiled at his new boyfriend, and started kissing him again.

Once again, they were interrupted by the computer beeping, this time after only a minute. “Okay, that was fast.” Tim looked up at the screen, and if anything, he was more shocked than when Kon told him that Luthor was possibly his other genetic donor. “No way. This can’t be right. Why the hell would Cadmus have _his_ DNA? What interest is he to them?”

“Who is it Tim?” Then Kon looked up at the screen. “Oh, him. Well now, this is a coincidence. The first hero I met outside of the Superfamily, and it’s my other father. At least that finally explains why I have brown hair. But you do have a point, why _would_ Project Cadmus have a sample of his DNA, especially considering he is completely human?”

 

**Fathers**

 

Hal Jordan, Green Lantern of Space Sector 2814, first human recruit to the Green Lantern Corps, former host to the fear parasite Parallax, former host to the Spectre, was confused when Robin called him to the Titans Tower. He was even more confused when he saw Superman there as well. “Hey, Clark. What are you doing here?”

“Hi, Hal. Kon called me, said he had some important news to tell me. What about you?”

“Same here, except Tim was the one that called me. What do you think it’s about?”

“I have no idea, Hal. The only way to find out is if we go in and ask him.” They buzzed the Tower, and were let in by Beast Boy. “Hey, Gar. I don’t suppose you have any idea what’s going on.”

“Sorry Supes, GL, but we have as much a clue as you do. All we know is that Tim wants us in the main conference hall at eleven.”

 

When everyone had assembled, the first thing they noticed was that Kon and Tim were sitting at the head of the table. Unusual, especially since Cyborg was the head of the Titans. “Well, since we’re all here, I guess we better get started. Kon and I called this meeting because we’ve just found something out about his origins. I assume that you all know about the little jaunt to the future we had last week?” When everyone nodded, Tim continued. “Then you all know that we met versions of ourselves that were far from the heroes we all hoped to be. What you don’t know is something that Kon learned while we were there. His future-self claimed to be the son of Lex Luthor.” Everyone gasped at that. Kon, the son of Lex Luthor?

“The first thing Kon did when we got back was tell me, and I decided to do a quick test to see if it was true, with Kon’s permission. What we found was truly shocking. We found out that he was half-human, _but_ his human DNA did _not_ come from Luthor.”

“That’s good news, Robin. But it doesn’t explain why _I’m_ here.”

“That’s easy enough, GL. After Tim found out that Luthor wasn’t my other donor, he decided to try and find out who my other donor was, and he started with the Watchtower’s database. It came up with the answer surprisingly fast. My other donor is one of the longest running heroes out there, only the Society members, Batman and Superman have been active longer.”

Hal thought about it, and then came to a realization. “But the only person who’s been active that long . . . is me. That’s it, isn’t it. I’m your other father, aren’t I, Kon?” When Kon nodded, Hal got up and gave him a hug. “Well then, welcome to the family, son.”

“Thanks, dad. But I think you should know that my bloodline isn’t the only reason that we called this meeting. Tim thought that we should bring in Bats as well for this part, but I convinced him that it would be safer to wait.” Both boys were clearly nervous, but whether it was about the news they were about to share or who they were telling it to, no one knew but the boys themselves. “Well, Tim and I are officially dating. We’ve loved each other since the day we met, we were just scared that the other didn’t feel the same way. Fortunately, this little crisis about my heritage made him upset enough to reveal his feelings, no matter what my reaction.” Kon was grinning by the end, but also looking a little hesitant, trying to gauge his two dad’s reaction, especially considering that the other Titans were clearly hiding their feelings for when the two older heroes had left.

To everyone’s surprise, Hal started laughing. “Ha, there’s a coincidence for you. We both got boyfriends this week, and both of us found him in our team.”

Everyone stared in shock at Hal. “You, GL? You got a boyfriend? And here I thought you were strictly a ladies man, especially considering Carol.”

“So had I, Supes. But last week, I decided to take one of my fellow Lanterns for a _real_ flight, and well, let’s just say that when we got back on the ground, the sparks really flew. So Kon, you have my complete support. And when you two are ready to tell Bats, I’ll be there to back you up.” That definitely cheered Kon and Tim up, knowing that they had GL’s support. Everyone knew that if someone could stand up to Batman, it was him. Then they turned to Superman.

Clark carefully chose his words before speaking. “Well, if you’re willing to deal with the consequences of going public, then who am I to stop you? Especially considering something that I think you should know, Kryptonians mate for life and the only thing that could change the way we feel about our mates is a complete change of who we are. Not even the most powerful pheromones or most complete mind control can make us turn on them.”

Now confidant that they had the support of one set of parents, Tim and Kon turned their attention to the rest of the team. Clark and Hal took that as their cue to leave, and headed for the roof. The first one to react to the news was Bart. “Well, what took you guys so long?” Everyone looked at him in shock. “What? I could tell that they had a thing for each other back when we were in Young Justice. I’m just surprised that it took this long for _them_ to realize it. Especially you, Tim. I thought you were supposed to be the detective of the group, yet you couldn’t figure out that the guy you had a crush on also had a crush on you?”

Cassie did not take the news well at all, not at all. “WHAT?! You’ve known you were gay for years and NEVER TOLD ME? Why, Kon? I _love_ you!”

Kon and Tim both looked at her in shock. Sure, Cassie had made several advances on Kon, but hadn’t she realized that he wasn’t interested? “Um, Cassie? Did I ever respond to any of your advances? No. And did you see me even _look_ at _any_ girl with anything close to love, or even lust? No. I have been in love with Tim since the day we met, and I haven’t even looked at anyone since. I thought it was obvious that I wasn’t attracted to you.”

Gar/Beast Boy was the next to show his support of the new couple. “Of course it was obvious! If Bart and I realized that you two were attracted to each other, than anybody should have.” The Titans continued to talk about the new relationship until noon, eventually ending with near unanimous support of the relationship, with the only holdout being Cassie Sandsmark, who was _still_ jealous of Tim.

 

Only one week after coming out to their team, Tim was forced to quit the Titans because his father found out about his “night job” and refused to let him continue as Robin. Kon didn’t believe it until a girl showed up at Titans Tower, claiming to be the new Robin. So, he decided to call in a favor with his new-found dad and asked Hal to fly him into Gotham, so that Batman couldn’t get after him. (Batman _hated_ having Meta-humans in Gotham, and would do his best to kick them out of ‘his’ city ASAP whenever they showed up.)

As soon as Kon located Tim’s heartbeat, he tracked down his boyfriend, eventually finding him in an apartment building in a fairly decent part of Gotham. When he knocked on the door, a tall, slightly overweight man opened the door. Gruffly, he asked “Who are you and what are you doing here?”

“Hello, is Timothy Drake here?” Kon had decided to come in his Conner Kent guise in an attempt to keep Tim’s family from getting _too_ worried (and to see if Tim would still recognize him. Tim had never seen him in his civvies.)

“Yeah, what’s it to you? And who are you?”

“My name is Conner, and I’m a friend of Tim’s. I was hoping to see him. Who are you?” Kon didn’t want to risk not being able to see Tim, so he decided not to mention that they were actually _boyfriends_ and not just friends.

“I’m Tim’s father, and he’s not allowed to see anybody right now. Besides, Tim said that he didn’t have any friends at school, so you’re obviously lying.”

“Sir, I never said that I knew Tim from school. I just said that we were friends. I actually live in Metropolis, not Gotham.”

“And you decided to make a quick jaunt halfway across the country, just to see a friend? Sure you did.”

Time for a quick test. “Well sir, one of my fathers is a pilot, and he was quite happy to fly me over here. So, can I see Tim?”

Mr. Drake took it far better than Kon had expected he would. “One of your fathers is a pilot, huh? Well then, you can have him fly you back home. Tim kept a huge secret from me, and he’s not allowed out of his room except for school, and he’s not allowed to see friends.”

 _We’ll see about that, civ._ But Kon nodded and left, only to sneak back and around to the fire escape, climbing to the sixth floor, right outside the window where he heard Tim’s heartbeat. He knocked on the door at Tim’s window, and waited for an answer. “Who the hell are you?”

Kon gave his glasses a nervous push, and asked “What’s wrong, don’t you recognize me Tim?”

Tim studied him closely, and finally a look of recognition appeared on his face. “Kon? Kon, is that you?”

“Hey, handsome. Great disguise, isn’t it?” Tim didn’t say anything, he just jumped into his boyfriend’s arms and started giving him the make-out session of his life. When Tim finally stopped to catch his breath, Kon said “I take it you missed me.”

“Are you kidding? This past week without you was painful beyond belief! I thought I wouldn’t be able to see you until I moved out. I can’t stand the thought of being separated from you for more than two weeks at a time.”

“If that’s true, then why did you quit being Robin?”

“Quit? You think I _quit?_ I was blackmailed! My dad found out, and threatened to out me, Dick and Bruce to the press and cops if I didn’t stop being Robin. What choice did I have? Bruce was forced to take back the Robin suit.”

Kon thought about it for a moment, and then came up with an idea. “You’ve still got some money, right? Why don’t you use it to make your own suit and weapons? That way you can still do the superhero gig, and not risk the other Bats.”

Tim smiled at his boyfriend. “Just one more reason for me to love you, you have a very devious mind, Conner Kent.”

Just as they started kissing again, Jack Drake started coughing. “I thought I told you that Tim wasn’t allowed visitors. Especially ones that are intent on seducing him. My son is not allowed to associate with queers.”

“Well that’s going to be trouble then, Dad. I love Conner, and I intend to spend the rest of my life with him. Now you can either live with that, or I’ll move out. It’s your choice.” Tim delivered the ultimatum while giving his dad a perfect imitation of the Bat-glare. Kon knew that Drake had to give in and choose either to lose Tim, or tolerate Kon, and he doubted that Drake would choose Kon.

“If that’s the how you want to play it Tim, then you have three hours to get packed and get out of this house. I have no son anymore.” Jack Drake then turned and stormed out of the room. That was the last time the two ever saw or spoke to each other.

“Okay Tim, now what?” Tim was in shock. He thought for sure that his dad would fold and let Kon in the house, and here he was not just kicking Tim out, he was also disowning him at the same time! “Tim? What do you want to do? I’m sure you’d be welcome at the Kent’s, or would you prefer to see if Bats is willing to take you in?”

Tim still didn’t respond. Kon realized that Tim was in shock, and briefly thought about slapping him (but only for a fraction of a second.) Instead, Kon decided to kiss him to bring Tim back to reality. When he broke the kiss, it was clear that Tim was back. “What were you saying, Kon?” Kon repeated his question. “First, we’ll see if Bruce or Dick are willing, if not, then I guess it’s the Kent’s for both of us.”

“Well then, I hope that Bats is his usual, cold self then. That way we’ll be able to see each other whenever we want,” Kon said teasingly. Using Kon’s speed and TTK, they managed to get Tim packed and ready to go in two hours. Kon called Hal and got him to take care of Tim’s things until they managed to figure out what was going to happen with him.

When they arrived at Wayne Manor, they were immediately greeted by Alfred. “Master Timothy, what’s going on? I thought your father forbade you to come here anymore.”

“Well Alfred, apparently I don’t have a father anymore. I’d tell you more, but I think that it’s best to discuss that with Bruce. Is he here?”

Alfred noticed Conner and decided to be discreet. “No, sir. Master Bruce took the car with him.”

“The Jaguar?”

“No, the other car.”

“The Bentley?”

“No sir, the _other_ car.”

“Is Selena with him?”

“Yes sir, and Ms. Brown.”

Kon was naturally confused. “Tim, what in hell is he talking about?”

“He’s out on patrol. Catwoman and my replacement are with him right now. Come on, we’ll go down to the cave and get him on the radio.” Alfred looked at him in shock, obviously wondering why Tim was revealing the secrets of the Batclan to some hick farm boy. “It’s alright. Alfred, meet Conner Kent, aka Kon-El, aka Superboy. Kon, meet Alfred. Alfred is without a doubt the heart and soul of the Batclan. Without him, I don’t think Bruce would have lasted this long as Batman.”

“So, _that’s_ the secret of the success of the Batclan, the Bat-butler, huh?” Tim just laughed at that.

 

They actually weren’t able to raise Bruce on the radio, so Tim and Kon waited for him inside the cave. Kon seemed to find it amusing that the Batcave had actual bats inside it. When Bruce came back, he was not happy to see Kon in the cave. “Tim, I thought I told you not to bring _that clone_ into the cave, or tell him about us. For that matter, I thought you weren’t allowed back here in the first place.”

“First, Kon is _not_ a clone, technically speaking. He is actually the son of Clark and Hal. Second, Bruce, I _trust_ Kon without reservation, and I know that paranoia is a major part as to why you don’t allow anyone else besides Superman down here. Third, as of last week, I believe I was forced off the team, so your rules don’t exactly apply. Fourth, Kon already knew about you, and Dick. The only thing I told him was about me. And fifth, my dad just disowned me because of Kon. I was going to ask to stay here, but if that’s the way you feel about Kon, well then, I guess I can stay with Dick or the Kent’s.”

For the first time in his life since that awful night so many years ago, Bruce was caught off guard. “Disowned? Over him? Clark and Hal’s kid? I thought Luthor . . . ? Are you sure about that?”

“Yeah, we are completely sure about that. And about him being Hal’s kid. I checked the data four times over, _after_ getting the original results. And yeah, I was disowned over Kon.”

“Well then, I can’t let you go and move in with the Kent’s. God only knows what they’d do with you. Probably ruin all my hard work training you. As soon as your father has legally disowned you, I’ll adopt you myself, if you want me to, Tim.”

“Of course, Bruce. But I think you should know that Kon and I are a package deal.”

“You two are . . . dating? I hope you know what you’re getting into Tim. Luthor may not have used any of his DNA, but he was still involved in . . . Kon’s birth. Luthor could have some kind of hidden programming in his mind. But if you’re sure, then I guess he is welcome here. So long as he doesn’t get involved in patrols here. My policy on Meta’s still stands.” Bruce saw the confused look on Kon’s face and decided to explain. “If I allow Meta’s or other heroes in Gotham, then their ‘rogues gallery’ follow them. If I allow Clark in here, then Metallo or Toyman will show up. If I allow Hal, then Sinestro could come. Flash, and Captains Cold or Boomerang come too. Allowing other heroes in does nothing but escalate the situation.”

 

**Luthor and Brainiac**

 

Within a week of being adopted by Bruce, Tim had made himself a new Robin suit, one that was all red and black. When anyone asked why, he would simply smile and say that it was because they were Kon’s colors. But Kon also had a slight costume change. He took his Superboy shirts, and added a little color to them, taking the black out from the inside of the S-shield and replacing it with green, in honor of his other father. About two months after being disowned by his father, Tim learned that his dad had been killed by Captain Boomerang. All he had to say was “Good riddance.”

One week after that, Kon decided to ask Raven if he had a soul, something he’d been wondering about since the day they went into the alternate future. When Raven looked at Kon to give him an answer, she froze in shock. When Kon asked what was wrong, she pulled Kon into her soul-self. Inside, Kon saw a large, glowing extremely colorful ball, a ball easily as large as Kon himself. “What is that?”

“It’s your soul, Kon. And it’s one of the purest, most beautiful souls I’ve ever seen. Trust me, if there’s anyone that doesn’t have a chance of going evil, it’s you.”

The next morning, Kon was about to head out to join the rest of the Titans, when he heard a high-pitched whine, a lot like Superman had said Jimmy’s watch sounded like when it went off. On the computer screen, a new window showed up labeled “AUDIO CONNECTION ESTABLISHED.” Then a voice came over the speakers. _“Hello, Superboy. My, how you’ve grown.”_

“Who is this?”

_“My greatest invention. Aut vincere aut mori.”_

“And what the hell is that supposed to mean? Who are you?”

The voice over the computer was clearly confused. _“What’s going on? Why aren’t you responding to the code words? Aut vincere aut mori!”_ But nothing happened.

“Oh, I get it now. You’re Luthor, aren’t you? Sorry to disappoint you, but you’re not my other dad. Turns out someone double-crossed you and used Green Lantern’s DNA to create me. You’ve lost, Luthor. I am a hero, like my fathers before me. Now, why don’t you get out, before I have Robin send you a virus.” Kon then walked away, and joined the rest of the Titans, just in time to find out that a neighboring team run by Nightwing known as the Outsiders had recently been attacked by one of their own members, an android known as Indigo, except she’d been claiming a new identity of Brainiac 8.

“So not only did Luthor try to control me, but now Brainiac’s getting in the game too? What are they planning?”

“Who knows Kon? Wait a minute. You said Luthor _tried_ to control you? What’s that supposed to mean?” Roy asked. Roy Harper was the second-in-command of the Outsiders, second only to Dick Grayson. He was also the former sidekick/partner of Green Arrow, code-named Speedy, later Red Arrow, and currently Arsenal.

“Simple Roy. He thought he could control me because he thought he was involved in my creation. But because he wasn’t, his ‘code words’ didn’t work. My guess is that if they had, I’d have probably done the same thing to the Titans that Brainiac/Indigo did to you, if not worse. Everyone be quiet!”

After a few seconds, Tim asks “Is something wrong, Kon?”

“Yeah, we’ve got incoming. Lots of incoming. Sounds like a few dozen of the Superman robots. Raven, Cassie, Jade, Star, you’re with me. Let’s take as many of them in the air as possible.”

Everyone stared at him in shock, Kon had never taken charge of a team like that before. “You’ve been hanging out with your _boyfriend_ too much, Superboy.”

Now the Outsiders were staring at Cassie. Since when did she resent Superboy that much, and what did she mean by ‘boyfriend’? But that was a mystery for another time. Right now they followed Superboy and the fliers left to take on the robots, while the others prepared to face the ones that got past them. Fortunately it wasn’t necessary as the Superman robots were quickly destroyed. Just as the last one was destroyed however, they heard someone shout “Aut vincere aut mori!” They turned and saw Lex Luthor had arrived in his battle-suit.

“What are you doing here, Luthor?” Tim yelled at him.

“I’m here to take back my son, you stupid kid. What else do you think I’m doing? But first, I think I’ll take you out.” Luthor then fired three rockets at Tim, and they exploded around him.

“Don’t you _dare_ touch him, Luthor!” Kon charged him with murder in his eyes, literally. His eyes were completely engulfed by his heat vision, the only question was when he was going to unleash it against Luthor.

“No! Stop! Aut vincere aut mori! Stop it! Damn it! Why the hell isn’t it working?” Luthor was desperately trying anything that could stop Superboy’s rampage, but it was hopeless. He was facing the rage of a Kryptonian whose mate had been threatened, and he wouldn’t stop until the threat had been eliminated, or his mate stopped him. Not even the Kryptonite powering the suit was slowing him down.

That is, unless something else threatened his mate. Because right at that moment, just before the chest of the suit would have been completely destroyed, Indigo/Brainiac-8 and Brainiac-6 showed up, and attacked the Titans and Outsiders. B-8 had Cassie by the throat and facing Shift, while B-6 was in control of a massive ship that was firing on the others. Tim called out for help, and Kon immediately left Luthor and charged the ship. Grateful to finally have a target that he didn’t have to hold back on, Kon unleashed every weapon in his arsenal against Brainiac-6. Brainiac didn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell, and he didn’t even last three minutes against the wrath of Kon-El. In the meantime, Shift had made Indigo human at her request, in order to stop Brainiac. Unfortunately, it killed her, as he wasn’t able to make her cells live. Luthor, having seen his plan destroyed and his attempt at mind control fail miserably, wisely fled the scene as quickly as possible. As a result of the battle against Luthor and the Brainiacs, Cyborg had been broken in two, Gar had been burned, and Nightwing quit the Outsiders.

 

**Infinite Crisis**

 

Three months after the defeat of Luthor and Brainiac, the world went to hell. An army of robotic soldiers called OMAC’s appear out of nowhere and start killing Meta-humans. Maxwell Lord took over Superman’s mind and turned him on the populace. When Wonder Woman bound him in the Lasso of Truth, he revealed that he was never going to release Superman, prompting Diana to kill him. An interstellar war was going on in the new center of the universe, a war between the planets Rann and Thanagar. And Lex Luthor started up a new Society of Super-Villains, all while the sky turned red in the middle of the day. The Titans were all basically living at the Tower, prepared to do whatever it took to help. But what they didn’t know was that someone was coming for one of their own . . .

 

Cyborg and Beast Boy were discussing an upcoming mission to help with the Rann-Thanagar War, when they were electrocuted. Raven was gassed, and Mia, Bart, and Cassie weren’t at the Tower. The intruder couldn’t find Kon, and so went to his priority target: Timothy Drake-Wayne. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t just find Tim, he found Tim _and_ Kon in the main conference room, and Kon immediately had him pinned. “Sorry man, but no one gets this close unless I know who they are, and that they aren’t a threat.”

“He’s Red Hood, Kon. The guy that’s been cleaning up Gotham, the _easy_ way.”

“Oh, _him_. Funny, I always thought of him as being more like a flashy maitre d’ than someone with a motorcycle fetish.”

“That was the old Red Hood, back before he became the Joker. This guy is new.”

“Ha! You think I’m _new_ to Gotham? I slept in it’s streets, lived in it’s alleyways. Until Bruce took me in. I trained as hard as I could, did whatever he asked, at least at first. But it didn’t matter; they said I wasn’t tough enough to be Robin.”

“Uh, Tim? What’s he talking about? I thought you and Dick were the only Robins.”

“You mean I’ve never told you the story? I’ve never told you about why I became Robin?”

“Uhm, no. At least I don’t think so. Why? What’s this got to do with this Hood guy?”

“Everything, assuming he is who I think he is. But you’re supposed to be dead. What happened?”

“What happened? Talia and Ra’s al Ghul happened.”

“Oh my God. They put you in a Lazarus Pit, didn’t they? That’s why you’re alive.”

“You know, I’m kind of surprised you even know who I am. When I died, no one cared. You’ve got statues of fallen Titans. Aquagirl, Hawk, Dove, you’ve even got Kole for God’s sake. But you don’t have one of me. No one remembered me!”

“Are you completely insane? No one could forget you. I’ve spent my entire career in your shadow. I had to _convince_ Batman to let me try. All because he’ll never stop blaming himself for what happened to you. And if you ask me, that’s the only reason he hasn’t taken you down, he’s holding back. I used to look up to you, Jason.” Eventually, Tim convinced Kon to let him go, if only for Bruce’s sake and the two of them headed to Smallville to take a short respite from the near constant fighting.

 

On the far side of San Francisco, Brother Blood, leader of the Church of Blood, was attempting to raise former Titans. So far, he had raised Omen, Aquagirl, Kole, Phantasm and Hawk. Now he was trying to raise Dove/Don Hall. _Don Hall of Earth at Peace._ He was not having much luck. “Don Hall, rise! I command that you rise!” _Don Hall of Earth at Peace._ “Damn it! Why won’t you rise? You! Kid Eternity! Why isn’t he answering my summons?”

“I have found that there are a few people that none can raise from death. Their souls are at peace, thus you can not disturb them. It appears that Don Hall is one of them.”

“Well then, I guess I’ll have to take on the Titans without him.” And so he left with the Titans he had and started his attempt to take over the world . . .

 

The next day, after the rest of the Titans had defeated Brother Blood, Kon and Tim decided to head back to the Tower and were just about to tell Martha and Jonathan when they heard someone at the door. When they walked out, they saw Superman, or at least a flying kid dressed in the same uniform. “Hello, _Superboy._ ”

“Kon, who is this?”

“I’m his replacement, _Robin_. This Earth is nothing but evil, and I’m going to fix it. And _you_ , you’re part of what’s messed everything up. It’s all wrong! Superboy’s not supposed to be . . . like that! He’s supposed to fall in love with a Lana or a Lara or . . . he’s not supposed to like a-a _boy!_ ”

“Welcome to the twenty-first century, homophobe. Now leave us alone, we’ve got work to do.”

“Oh, no you don’t, Robin. You are going to stay here, until _Luthor_ and I finish our discussion.”

“Luthor? What on earth are you talking about? There’s no Luthor here.”

“Don’t lie to me, Luthor! I know you have his tainted blood running through your veins. You’re a monster, just like him!”

Kon and Tim stared at him, and started laughing. “Can you believe that, Tim? He actually believes that _I’m_ related to Luthor! Maybe we should print up that DNA test you did and send it out to the rest of the League. At least that way this crazy rumor could be shut down for good.”

“Yeah, maybe we should. I wonder how many people actually think that you are Luthor’s kid?”

“STOP LYING!! I _saw_ Luthor giving his blood to Cadmus for you!” The other Superboy charged at Kon, knocking him into the forest between the Kent farm and Smallville. Tim noticed that and pulled out a large piece of Kryptonite from inside his belt, and ran to catch up to the other Superboy. When the fake noticed Tim, he stopped and turned on him. “Yet another reason to end this Earth. You don’t even trust _him_ enough to not go around without Kryptonite.”

“You think this is by choice, poser? Batman won’t let me date him unless I do carry this around. And Kon already knows about it. Now let’s see how _you_ like it!” But to Tim’s surprise, the Kryptonite did nothing to the fake.

“Ha! This Kryptonite isn’t from my universe. It won’t hurt me, all you’re going to do is hurt Luthor!” Then the fake charged at Tim, intent on taking him out of the fight.

“DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH HIM!” Kon yelled. The fake Superboy turned in shock, as Kon charged at him with his eyes blazing like twin suns. Kon’s heat vision instantly incinerated the Kryptonite (while Tim didn’t even feel the heat) and then hit the fake full in the chest. The two Superboys fought each other until they hit Central and Keystone Cities. Both of the Superboys were bleeding, their costumes badly damaged. Kon was down to his boxers and the main body of his T-shirt, while Prime had lost his cape, as well as the arms and legs of his costume. But Kon was tiring. After all the stress and work of the past three months, he was starting to dip into his solar reserves. Fortunately, he noticed something that made him smile.

“What? What are you smiling about?” Kon then pulled his Titan’s communicator out of his pocket, and Superboy-Prime noticed that it was active, and acting like a homing beacon. When Prime turned to look behind him, he saw an army of young heroes, all of them willing to stand up for Conner. And at the forefront were Tim and Cassie, one without any powers whatsoever, the other with fluctuating powers, and yet they led the assault against the rogue Kryptonian from another universe. As they battled, Speedy pulled out the one arrow she had never used before, one that had been given to her by Arsenal, who had stolen it from Superman’s Fortress of Solitude, an arrow Roy had called the Phantom Zone Arrow. To everyone’s surprise, Prime broke out of the Zone. But when he broke out, everyone’s memories and past were altered. All of a sudden, Beast Boy becomes a former member of the Doom Patrol, and while the Doom Patrol revels in this knowledge, Prime starts killing Titans. Fortunately, before he could kill more than a half-dozen, the Flash family ran him into the Speed Force. Then, not five minutes after Prime and two of the three members of the Flash family disappeared into the Speed Force, half of the Titans also disappeared, and a second Earth appeared in the sky.

“What the hell’s going on, Tim?”

“I have no clue, Kon. For once in my life, I don’t know.”

 

While Kon was recovering back at Titans Tower, Tim had tracked down two other heroes, ones that he hoped would give him the ability to help defeat Prime if he came back. Once he got Captain Atom and Hal together, he explained his plan to them. “Hmm, I think it could work. And I’m pretty sure the Guardians would be willing to, assuming Atom is willing to provide the radiation.”

“Of course. Anything so long as it means taking care of this fake Superboy. What do you need?”

“Red solar radiation. The radiation from a red sun, like say, Rao.” To Hal’s delight, the Guardians did manage to duplicate his ring and modify it so that it would wield the radiation instead of will. And thanks to Captain Atom, the ring was charged with enough solar radiation that it could probably take out _five_ Kryptonians abilities for at least a year.

“Just be careful with it, Tim. The Guardians said that the ring will explode 24 hours after it’s used for the first time. And the explosion is going to be pretty powerful, probably equal to the one that destroyed Coast City.”

“Thanks for the warning, Hal.” Tim then went back to the Tower, feeling hope for the first time since his father discovered that he was Robin. He then led the Titans to help with the recovery of Blüdhaven, but taking control of it proved to be too much stress for him to handle, so he turned it over to Garfield, while him and Kon decided to take a short break in Smallville. And as the sun set on the Kansas horizon, Tim and Kon did something they’d been planning on doing since they got together, they finally made love.

 

The next morning, Kon and Tim got a message from Dick, requesting everyone to head to Titans Tower so that they could face the ones responsible for the now countless Earths in the sky. On the way there, Kon started talking about the previous night. “Hey, Tim. What happened last night, does it change anything between us?” Kon asked when they were halfway to the Tower.

Tim just smiled. “The only thing that changes is the fact that I’m going to want to do that a lot more often. Is that good enough for you?”

“Plenty, Tim.”

“Good. But next time, I’m going to be on top, understand?”

Kon started laughing. “Boy, am I glad we’re having this conversation now, and not in front of Dick. I can just imagine the ribbing he’d give us.”

“You think he’s going to be bad? Just think about how _Bruce_ is going to react. From what I’ve heard, he gives _extreme_ interrogations to the people that deflower his Robins. It’s easier if people are just rumored to have had sex with us though.”

“Rumored? People spread rumors about your lovers?”

“Are you kidding? Some people consider it a great accomplishment to be the lover of a Bat, especially considering Bruce. You wouldn’t believe some of them.”

“Try me, Tim.”

“Alright. Since you asked, rumors claim that during Dick’s time with the Titans, every night they had an orgy . . .”

“No way!”

“I told you that you wouldn’t believe some of the rumors. Another rumor claims that Dick has slept with Roy, Garth, or both at the same time. Then Starfire, of course. And then the worst rumors of all, some people actually think that we have sex with each other.”

“What do you mean ‘we’? You don’t mean . . . you Bats, do you?”

“Unfortunately. Dick and Bruce, Dick and Jason, Jason and Bruce, Dick and me, and worst of all Bruce and me. Ugh, if I knew who spread those rumors, I swear, I’d take them to Wayne Tower and hang them from the roof. Although, I think that Dick and Jason actually are together.”

“I don’t blame you. Just thinking about you and Bruce together . . .” Kon shuddered at that. “That would be like thinking me and Clark do it.” Kon shuddered again. “It’s just completely disgusting.”

“Believe it or not, I have heard a rumor about you and Clark to that effect.”

“WHAT?!”  
“Just kidding, Kon. Just kidding.”

“You better be, Tim. Or else I’ll take you and whoever started that rumor and strand you in Smallville with no money or civvies. By the way, you were a virgin before last night, right?”

“Of course, Kon. I thought that was obvious with all the ‘Boy Virgin’ jokes at the Titans. What about you?”

“Yeah, that was my first time. After I met you, I never even looked at another girl, or any other guy for that matter.”

“Not even Tana?”

“Nah, she was a great friend and confidante, but even if I had been interested, I think she’d have said I was too young for her.” They eventually got to talking about things other than their sex lives, and eventually met with Dick at the Tower. Dick then explained what was going on. A Superman from another universe had gone to Batman in an attempt to recruit him in a plan to replace their Earth with his. And that Superman had the support of another, younger version of Superman, Superboy-Prime, and a Luthor from yet another dimension. Kon then revealed a blue crystal that showed a large, yellow tower on it. “Do you think this has anything to do with it?”

“Where did you get that?”

“I didn’t get it. I just found it in my room while I was recovering from my fight with Prime. I don’t know how it got there or who sent it. All I know is that it lights up whenever I point it north. My guess is that it’s acting like a compass to that tower it’s showing. Wait a second.” Kon tilted his head, a lot like Superman did when he was using super-hearing. “Great, we’ve got trouble.”

“What is it, Kon?”

“He’s back. Superboy-Prime is back, and if I’m gauging the distance right, he’s in Tokyo, Japan.” The three of them then flew off to find the tower, (with Kon carrying Tim and Dick using an old Nightwing outfit) but they were forced to make a stop near Vancouver when Dick saw a ship get hit by an iceberg. They had just finished when Dick was blasted into the ocean by a blast of lightning. Kon managed to fish him out and had to remove his costume using his TTK field, while Tim grabbed his arctic uniform from Dick’s backpack. When the Batplane got hit by another bolt, they ran into a new problem. “I’m not sure if I can carry both of you. Now what?”

“Can you carry Dick?”

While Dick froze at the sound of his real name, Kon answered “Sure, but what about you? I’m not going to leave you stranded here.”

“You won’t have to, not if I’m right about this.” Tim then pulled out his solar radiation ring. “If I’m right, this ring I got from Hal will allow me to fly on my own.”

“What is that, little brother?”

“Hal made a duplicate of his ring for me, one that wields radiation instead of will.”

“Radiation? You’re wearing something that could kill you?”

“Not unless solar radiation can kill you. This ring wields red solar radiation. I had Hal and Captain Atom make it in case we had to face that fake Superboy again. I am not going to go into this with one hand tied behind my back. This way, I can face him on my terms, not his.” Kon and Dick both had to admit that it was a good plan, and flew on, with Kon keeping a safe distance from Tim, although it was obvious that neither of them liked the idea. By the time they’d arrived at the tower, Cassie had also joined them, her powers restored thanks to her divine half-brother, Ares.

They raced to free the prisoners of the tower and shut it down before Prime arrived, but they were only able to free most of the prisoners. Tim nearly unleashed his ring on Prime, but managed to deduce the function of the armor he was wearing, and directed Power Girl and Black Adam to destroy it while Dick attacked Alexander Luthor, the brains behind this new Crisis. Fortunately, that bought them enough time to free the last prisoner of the tower: the Martian Manhunter, and J’onn held him long enough for Tim to get in several good hits, severely depleting Prime’s solar energy supply. When Prime turned on Tim, the ring not only protected Tim from Prime’s full strength, it also allowed Tim to hurt Prime enough to make him bleed. But then he was surrounded by dozens of OMAC’s, allowing Prime to turn his attentions to Dick. Prime was just about to turn his heat vision on Dick when Kon attacked him, declaring that it was time for Round Two.

Kon could tell that Superboy-Prime was weakening quickly, as with each hit, he drew blood from Prime. So while he fought Prime, he kept part of his mind on the fight, and the rest on how to take down the Tower. While looking at it using his X-ray vision, he noticed a central support beam covered in lead that, if damaged enough, would probably cause the whole tower to collapse. So, combining his TTK and extreme strength, he hit Prime as hard as he could, sending him flying into the tower, through the central beam, and out the other side. But to his surprise, the tower did not collapse, it exploded, sending pieces flying everywhere, and once again, everyone’s memories were altered. Fortunately, Tim managed to shield himself and Dick using his ring, while Kon and Cassie were able to use their abilities to protect themselves. When they went looking for Prime, all they found were the pieces of armor that Power Girl and Black Adam had broken off. “What do you think happened to him, Nightwing?” Cassie asked

“I’d guess that beam Kon saw was actually what powered the tower. So when he threw Prime in there, he caused a chain reaction, causing it to blow up, and probably vaporizing Prime in the process.” Then he turned to Kon and whispered to him “We need to talk.” When they were out of Cassie’s hearing range, Dick turned to him and demanded “How the hell do you know my name?”

“I’m afraid that’s my fault, Dick.” Dick turned and saw Superman, _his_ Superman, descending toward them. “I thought it would be a good idea if he knew the identities of my teammates, so I told him about you and Bruce. Now, we’ve got to get moving. Hal’s picked up reports that the Society has broken every single meta-human prison open and they’re declaring war on us, starting with Metropolis.” When the others heard that, they all rushed to Metropolis to hold the line.

 

The majority of the citizens of Metropolis evacuated their city as soon as they heard about the planned battle, and were safely away by the time it started. And as Hal’s ring had reported, every single villain was in Metropolis, battling the handful of heroes that weren’t in Bludhaven or involved in the Rann-Thanagar War. The two Supermen battled Bizarro, after defeating Doomsday, the monster that had killed Earth-0’s Superman. Kon took on the General, while Robin joined Hal in battling Sinestro. Alexander Luthor attempted to blast Batman, only to have Nightwing push him out of the way, taking the blast himself. When he saw his first protégé, his favorite son fall, Bruce very nearly lost it and _almost_ shot Luthor, only to be stopped by Diana. Hour after hour, the battle for Metropolis raged on, until finally, the last villain fell. Unfortunately, just as the battle ended, another threat to Metropolis appeared, as the ring on Tim’s finger started counting down. _Detonation in 75 seconds . . . 74 . . . 73 . . . 72 . . ._

“Tim! What’s going on?” Kon demanded of his boyfriend.

“My ring! It’s about to explode! Hal said that when it does, it’ll be as bad as the bomb that destroyed Coast City. I have to get it away from here!”

“You wouldn’t be able to get it far enough from the city to do any good. I’ll take care of it.” Tim looked up to see Kal-L standing before him, hand open asking for Tim’s trust, and the ring.

“But what about you? The ring is filled with red solar radiation! You could die!”

“If so, then I join my Lois. Besides, I need to do this, as penance for my part in this disaster.” Reluctantly, Tim handed the ring to Superman-2. Not because he didn’t trust him, only because he didn’t want to see him die. Tim knew that this Superman could probably bring some much needed light and a better point of view to the League, if he stuck around. But he also knew the pain that Kal-L must be going through, Tim had gone through it once also. That one week without Kon had been unbearable, and that was when he knew that Kon was alive, he just wouldn’t be able to see him. Tim couldn’t imagine what it would be like if he lost Kon, so he did as Superman-2 asked. Once Tim handed the ring to him, Kal-L took to the skies as the ring continued to count down.

. . . 10 . . . 9 . . . 8 . . . 7 . . . 6 . . . 5 . . . 4 . . . 3 . . . 2 . . . 1

The ring exploded high in the atmosphere like a Roman candle, but it’s effects were immediate. The three Kryptonians, who had been hovering a few feet off the ground, fell to their knees as the radiation stripped them of their abilities. Noticing the falls, Hal took off, hoping to find the other Superman still alive. Tim was watching him, hoping that Kal-L would still be alive, when he felt something like a kiss, except no one was there. “Kon?”

“Happy New Year, Rob.”

Tim frowned, confused. But then he counted up the days, and found out his boyfriend was right. Huh, they had destroyed the Tower right at midnight on January 1. “How did you do that?”

“My TTK still works. I guess that’s one ability that doesn’t depend on solar energy.”

Tim smiled at his boyfriend. At least they could still have some fun in the bedroom with that. Then he noticed Hal coming in with Superman-2. “GL! Is he alive?”

“Yeah, but just barely. He must have thrown the ring just before it went off.”

“KAL!” Power Girl ran to her cousin, hoping against hope that she wouldn’t be left alone again. When she reached his side, she collapsed by him, weeping. “Don’t leave me alone, Kal. Please, don’t leave me alone again. It can’t end this way . . .”

“It . . . can’t . . . Kara . . . I finally understand now. I know what Lois was trying to tell me, there at the end.” He placed a hand against her cheek.

“What are you talking about?” she asked softly. She pressed her own hand against his, desperate to be as close to her long-lost cousin for as long as possible.

“I’ll always be with you, Kara. Even if you can’t see me, I’ll always be here.” He gazed up at his heartbroken cousin. “It’s not going to end.” He then turned his gaze to the starlit sky. “It’s _never_ going to end . . . for us.” And thus, a legend, Kal-L of Krypton, Clark Kent/Superman of Earth-2, the first true superhero, breathed his last and was no more. One week later, he was buried in Smallville, next to his wife, Lois Lane of Earth-2, with many heroes, including the entire Justice Society, attending, paying their last respects to the legend.

 

Two weeks after the funeral, Bruce, Clark and Diana were walking along Gotham Bay. Clark was gazing wistfully up at the sky. “I wish I knew how long it’s going to take to fly again. Days like this I’m going to really miss it.” Dreaming about the past got him thinking about the future. “So, what’s in your future, Diana?”

“I think it’s time to find out who Diana _is_.”

Clark smiled as he said “I can suggest a way for you to clear your perspective.”

“That’s what I’ll be doing when I retrace the steps I first took when I left Gotham. I’ll be rebuilding Batman. But this time it’s going to be different.”

“How’s that, Bruce?” Diana asked. She was extremely curious, because Bruce was doing something that was completely out of character for him, he was _smiling_.

Then they heard a boy call out “Hey, Bruce! C’mon, let’s go!” They looked up to see a trio of boys waving at them. Two of them had been expected: Dick and Tim, the third, not so much: Conner.

“Kon is going with you?” Clark asked, surprised. He had thought that his ‘son’ didn’t like being around the Batclan, besides Tim. And yet here he was, willingly joining them on what promised to be a very long trip.

“Yeah, he wants to be with Tim as much as possible, so he asked to join us. Besides, he’s very anxious to learn ‘Bat-fu’ as he calls it,” Bruce recalled with a smile. “I’m guessing he didn’t tell you?”

“Not exactly. I knew he was going on a trip with Tim, I just hadn’t realized Tim was going with you and Dick.”

“Okay, I’m confused. I thought Kon was with Cassie. Hades, I threw him across San Francisco Bay because I caught them kissing! Why does he want to be with Tim so bad?”

Clark and Bruce looked at each other, and just started laughing. “Diana, you have a lot of catching up to do if you didn’t know they were in a relationship. Tim and Kon have been together for about five months now.” Diana just stared at Bruce and the young couple until the ship was well out of sight.

 

**Between Crises**

 

The year following the Infinite Crisis soon came to be known as the Year Without the Trinity, and it passed fairly peacefully. Luthor had one small plot to make a super-powered army, but Steel and other heroes managed to stop him. Clark became a father during that year to a boy that Lois named Jason. Diana came back a changed woman, returning to the roots that had made her such a popular heroine. Bruce’s trip succeeded in refreshing him and his three sons in the martial arts that made them so dangerous to the criminal element (by the time the trip ended, Bruce truly considered Kon to be a member of the Bat family, much to Kon’s surprise.) Tim and Kon’s relationship had truly grown, and so quickly that when they returned, their friends wondered how long they had truly been together, whether they’d been together a little more than a year, or since they’d first met. Bruce actually got married on his return to Gotham, to Selena Kyle/Catwoman of all people! (Well, Kon was surprised about it, but Tim said that the rest of the Bat-family had been expecting it for years.) Cassie had moved on from her crush on Kon and had actually built a relationship with the new Blue Beetle, Jaime Reyes. All in all, they had all had a very good year.

But things quickly went south after their return. In Gotham, Talia al Ghul arrived at Wayne Manor presenting Bruce with a nine year old boy that she claimed was her and Bruce’s son: Damian Wayne. Damian took an instant dislike to Tim, and even attempted to kill him, which instantly earned Damian the inevitable hatred of Kon (and Kon even refused to call him Wayne, preferring to call him Demon or al Ghul whenever he had to speak of the newest member of the Bat family.) In Metropolis, Clark and Lois adopted a Kryptonian kid, who eventually turned out to be named Lor-Zod, the son of the infamous Kryptonian General Zod. Then, when Clark and Bruce attempted to rid the world of nearly all Kryptonite, Lana Lang detonated a thousand Kryptonite dirty bombs, forcing all four Kryptonians to escape to the Watchtower until the Kryptonite could be cleaned up. While in San Francisco, the so-called ‘Titans of Tomorrow’ appeared, attempting to bring about their future. Oddly enough, the ‘Titans of Tomorrow’ had changed from what the Titans had seen one and a half years before, with Kon and Bart being clones created by Tim. In Central City, Bart had taken over the role of the Flash, but was been killed by the Rogues when they stripped him of his speed. And in Coast City, a yellow power ring appeared, inducting a visiting, hostile alien into something called ‘The Sinestro Corps.’ But that was just the beginning.

The induction of Amon Sur, son of Abin Sur-Hal’s predecessor as Green Lantern of Sector 2814, was merely a warning of a fast approaching war. A second yellow ring had come to Gotham, attempting to induct Bruce, but refused to (thanks to Hal. Bruce had once worn Hal’s ring to try and move past the death of his parents, and the yellow was forced to move on.) When Kon confronted his other father about it, Hal just said that “it doesn’t concern you, Kon. Or any one else from Earth, these yellow rings are a Corps problem.”

“But Dad-”

“Sorry, Kon. But even if I wanted to bring you along, I don’t think you’d be able to follow me. And even if you could, would you really want to leave Tim?”

“No.”

“I thought not. Don’t worry about me, I’m the best they’ve got, and my boyfriend’s the most powerful Corpsman ever. But if this problem spreads here, you and Tim will be the first ones I call, alright?”

“Sure, Dad.”

“Thanks, Kon.” Despite Hal’s reassurance, the Sinestro Corps _did_ become Earth’s problem as their war against the Green Lanterns spread across the universe and eventually attacked Earth. Leading the Sinestro Corps were four very familiar faces: Sinestro himself, the Anti-Monitor of Qward, and Hank Henshaw/the Cyborg Superman, the man that was indirectly responsible for Hal’s short fall from grace and possession by Parallax. But worst of all was Kon’s third dad, Kyle Rayner, now possessed by Parallax like his lover had been.

Tim and the rest of the Titans joined Hal in defending Coast City, and Tim even helped get Hal and Kyle out of Parallax. Kon on the other hand was battling the Cyborg in New York, slowly taking him apart, piece by piece. Eventually, they managed to drive the Sinestro Corps from Earth. Although there was a lot of damage caused by the Sinestro Corps War (as it was being called by the media,) they actually managed to find some good out of it. During the last hours of the war, Hal had gone on TV and insisted that the residents of Coast City escape before the Sinestro Corps could destroy it again. In response, the few thousand living there all started turning on green lights, not one person left the city, giving it the new nickname of ‘The City Without Fear,’ and causing it’s population to skyrocket.

**The Final Crisis**

 

To Kon, the end of the world began when Tim asked for his help in Gotham. A group calling themselves the Black Glove had decided to finish the job Bane had started back when Kon had first shown up, they had decided to Break the Batman. So far, Batman and Nightwing had both disappeared, leaving only Tim and Selena to defend Gotham. Naturally, Kon agreed to help, slowing his trip to Gotham only long enough to change into his costume, one he made in order to work in Gotham. Bruce had said that he’d allow Kon to work there, _if_ he promised to not use any of his Kryptonian abilities, to follow Batman’s orders, and create a new identity for himself. Kon willingly agreed, creating a suit very similar to Dick’s, based on the Kryptonian legend that gave Dick his identity. In Kryptonian legend, before Krypton became as close to Utopia as you could get, there was a Batman-like figure that worked the streets, ridding it of crime, a man called Nightwing. And the Kryptonian Nightwing had a partner, one whose name Kon used on the rare times that he worked in Gotham, Flamebird. Kon’s costume as Flamebird was remarkably similar to Dick’s current Nightwing costume, just replacing the black part of the suit with red. For nearly a week, Flamebird and Robin worked together to battle the Black Glove, until Bruce escaped and defeated them inside Arkham Asylum.

That’s when the end of the world began for Kon. For most however, it began with the murder of a god. Orion, son of Darkseid and warrior god of New Genesis, was found on the Metropolis docks by Dan Turpin, while above him, the sky started to turn red, despite the fact that the sun was just now reaching the peak of it’s journey across the sky. That same day, J’onn J’onzz was murdered by a villain that hadn’t been seen in years: Libra. The next day, the Justice League held a funeral for the Manhunter from Mars, burying him in the dust of his home planet, and that night, Hal was arrested by an Alpha Lantern for the murder of Orion, and an attack on Kyle. Also that night, Batman disappeared after a meeting with Alpha Lantern Kraken of Apokolips, which both Kon and Tim found suspicious. Unfortunately, all the video footage was deleted beyond even Tim’s ability to recover, which simply made them _more_ suspicious. Then, the next morning came the hardest blow of all: Lois Lane-Kent was very nearly killed by Clayface. It seemed to Kon like the universe was out to take from him all his parental figures, and he was starting to wonder if that meant he was getting too close to the Bats, it seemed to be a curse of theirs. First Bruce losing his parents to a mugging in Crime Alley, then Dick to Zucco at Haly’s Circus, Jason to Two Face and the Joker, then most recently, the Drakes to Boomerang and some disease.

Only two days after the attack on Lois, Wonder Woman also disappeared. And then, at exactly 5:30 PM, Eastern Standard Time, the entire world came under attack by the voice of Darkseid, as he spoke the infamous Anti-Life Equation through nearly every electronic device across the world. Within hours, half the world’s population had fallen under Darkseid’s control. Kon, and a handful of others, seemed to be immune to the Equation, but most people fell to it. Kon and Tim were in Smallville when it hit. When Kon turned and saw Tim start falling under it’s spell, Kon immediately kissed him, reminding Tim of his reason to live, and freeing him from Anti-Life. Unfortunately, he was unable to do the same for Martha and Jonathan. The young couple quickly fled Smallville to the Fortress of Solitude.

While so many terrible things were happening, there was some rays of hope, Barry Allen, the second Flash, a man who had been dead since the first Crisis, had returned from the Speed Force. And Mark Richards/Tattooed Man had joined the League, and with a new tattoo that Black Lightning claimed was important. And while they didn’t know it, Hal had been cleared of all charges after Honor Lanterns John Stewart and Guy Gardner proved him innocent and the three human lanterns battled and defeated Granny Goodness, who had taken over Alpha Lantern Kraken’s mind. The Guardians then ordered Hal and the other Lanterns to Earth in order to save it from Darkseid, as his plans were destabilizing the entire universe, and eventually the multiverse.

In the meantime, the League was launching an assault on the city that served as Darkseid’s HQ: Bludhaven. Leading the charge on the ground was Frankenstein’s monster, followed closely by Robin, Red Arrow, Liberty Belle, Hourman, Wildcat, Faust, Blue Devil, Tawky Tawny, Vixen, Mister America, GI Robot, and the Metal Men. Their air support was led by Superboy, closely followed by Shazam, Black Adam, Isis, Supergirl, Iman, STRIPE, and Kyle Rayner. Iman was quickly taken out of the fight by a missile launcher, while Black Adam and Shazam battled Mary Marvel. The Battle for Bludhaven had begun.

 

Inside Command-D, Mokkari and Simyan were working on creating an army of Batmen to use for Darkseid. And to make the clones perfect, they were downloading his memories into the clones. The dark pair were sure of their victory, and yet Batman had a reputation that had spread to even Apokolips, and they were worried. It was a good thing they worried, because Bruce found out what they were doing, and, as he often did in Gotham, he turned his mind into a weapon, using his worst memories to destroy the minds of the clones, making them convulse and claw out their own eyes. Mokkari was so shocked he asked “How does Batman process this degree of stress? What kind of man can turn his own memories into a _weapon?_ ” As the clones continued to fail, Mokkari and Simyan ran as quickly as their old legs could carry them, praying that Darkseid would forgive them for their failure

 

In Bludhaven the battle raged on as Kon and Tim battled Justifiers, Shazam and Supergirl battled Mary Marvel, and Tawny took on Kalibak alone. Eventually, they all prevailed, but losing Shazam in the process. Then the Furies came, with the fallen Amazon leading the charge. Tim and Kon looked at each other, nodded in unison, and then attacked the Amazon. Inside Command-D, Batman faced the architect of the Final Crisis, the last of the Apokoliptian gods, Darkseid, alone. “Darkseid. You look like how I feel.” The evil god did indeed look like hell, every breath a Herculean effort, his hands arthritic. Bruce didn’t look much better, with his cowl pierced several times by the needles that had pierced his brain in order to access his memories, desperately in need of a shave, every muscle ached as bad as it had just before he faced Bane the first time. “You shouldn’t have shot Orion.”

“It was Orion’s destiny to fall in the ‘Final Battle.’ Splintered like light through a prism in an infinite number of deaths.”

“And on the way, he wounded you beyond repair, didn’t he? A rotten carcass of a god, crawling into a sewer to die.” He then reached into his cloak, pulling out a unique gun, one that couldn’t be found on Earth. “I made a very solemn vow about firearms. But for you, I’m making a once-in-a-lifetime exception. A gun and a bullet, Darkseid. It was your idea. Radion, toxic to your kind. I sealed the bullet in my belt for inspection.”

Darkseid’s eyes flared up as he asked “Little man, can you outrace the Omega Sanction? The death that is life?”

“Try me,” Bruce said, as he fired the gun. The theotoxic bullet raced the Omega Beams to their targets. The Radion bullet won the race, hitting Darkseid high in the chest, slimy, black, _dead_ blood bursting from the wound. “Huh, gotcha.” Bruce was smiling as the Omega Beams hit him simultaneously, and an instant later, he was gone, with no trace of Batman/Bruce Wayne to be found anywhere on Earth. Or at least, not in the present time.

 

Outside Command-D, only Kon, Tim, and a handful of other heroes were still standing after the assault by the Furies, all of them either mere mortals or aliens. Every meta-human had fallen to a disease carried by one of the Furies. Normally Kon would have been affected as well, but his Kryptonian genetics saved him from most of the effects of the bacterial disease, the only effect it did have was to strip him of his TTK field, not so bad as he saw it. Then, a sonic boom hit the battlefield, as Superman finally returned from wherever, or _when_ ever, he had been. He flew by so fast that everyone was knocked on their back, his scream of rage rivaled even Black Canary’s Cry, battering the shield around Command-D until it fell, and when he returned, he carried the charred remains of Batman in his arms. He then turned and faced Batman’s killer, keeping him distracted as Barry and Wally brought the Black Racer/Death to Darkseid.

Outside, the Secret Society of Super-villains joined in the fray against the Furies, and for one final time, the old gods of Olympus made their presence known on Earth, saving Wonder Woman from the chains of the Anti-Life Equation. The remaining survivors then retreated to the last outpost against Darkseid-Watchtower Omega, a conglomerate structure made up of the Fortress, the space station Watchtower, Titans Tower, and the Hall of Justice. There, the survivors, heroes and villains alike, built a miracle machine, one that they all hoped could save them. Once the machine was nearly finished, they launched a ship with mementoes from Earth, incase they didn’t survive, including the final issue of the _Daily Planet_. Then Superman used a ray taken from Brainiac to shrink nearly the entire population of Earth to atomic size in order to protect them if he failed, only Tim and Kon refused to be shrunk. “If things are going to end, then we’re going down fighting. I refuse to hide from whatever’s coming, no matter what,” Tim told him. Clark just smiled at his would-be son-in-law. Together, the three of them finished the machine, despite the machinations of Darkseid’s dying soul. Superman then unleashed a single musical note that destroyed the remnants of the evil god, finally ridding the universe of the despot. As Superman did that, Kon took the final piece of the miracle machine out of Metron’s signature chair and put it in place.

Just as Tim was preparing to power up the machine, two others joined them, one looked like an extraterrestrial vampire, the other was the infamous Ultraman of Earth-3, the leader of the Crime Syndicate and arch nemesis of the heroic Lex Luthor. But Ultraman had changed, he had apparently become a vampire himself, and working with the ET. The ET spoke, _“Exhausted, isolated. Your father failed to save his world, now it’s your turn. The dying god left your universe wounded, broken, defenseless, and alone in the endless dark where Mandrakk waits. Here at the end of all stories.”_ Tim shuddered at the being, something that he was sure could have make even Darkseid shudder in fear, if there had been anything left of him.

 _“Come closer, I need to feed on you, as I fed on these ‘Servants of God,’ defenders of the universe.”_ Both teens shuddered as they saw Mandrakk drop the body of the Spectre. The vampire continued speaking to Superman, ignoring the teen heroes. _“There is no light, no spark to power your empty weapon! Come! Die screaming and writhing in the arms of your master.”_ All three heroes perked up at the vampire’s words. He had unknowingly given them the secret to power the miracle machine.

Superman turned to the machine as he spoke to the vampire. “Got to say I’ve had better offers. I’m a _solar battery_ , Mandrakk, as is my son. We store light in our cells. We’ll use it all if that’s what it takes to power the machine!” Together, father and son closed in on the machine, truly willing to give their lives if that’s what it took to save their loved ones, and their planet. Quickly, the miracle machine absorbed their combined 40 years of solar energy, returning what it didn’t need, and activated.

Out in space, the Green Lanterns were finally nearing Earth, and as they were drug in by a ship that none of them had seen, not even the ones from the furthest sectors, Hal led them in their famous oath.

In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night,

No evil shall escape my sight. . .

 

Nix Uotan, former Monitor of Earth-51 then joined the battle against his former companion, Rex Ogama/Mandrakk, summoning all 51 Supermen of the multiverse, some so similar to Kal that you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference, and some so different you wouldn’t be able to tell they were related at all (such as Bizarro or the Nazi _Ubermensch_.) Ultraman turned to face him, but not even he could stand up to 52 different Kryptonians turning their heat vision on him at once. Then, gathering together the 51 surviving Supermen, the army of Heaven, the Super Young Team of Japan, and the three survivors of Earth-26, he turned on his former compatriot. “This team of heroes is so incredible, it can only _once_ be assembled against the ultimate enemy! Do you hear that chant growing stronger?” Then he joined the Corps in the oath.

Let those who worship evil’s might,

Beware my power: Green Lantern’s Light!

“Turn back, Ogama. Crawl home to your tomb with your carrion shadows. Dawn is on it’s way.” The Lanterns saw the vampire Monitor and used the last of their remaining power to send a spike through Mandrakk, destroying the vampire once and for all. Nix picked up the corpse and told it “The Multiverse has natural defenses none of you could have imagined. No one fucks with the Judge of All Evil.”

As the Earth was pulled back into it’s place by the Lanterns and Supermen, Tim turned to Kon and told him, “Happy Independence Day.” By the most remarkable of coincidences, Darkseid and Mandrakk had died on July 4th, turning it from a purely American holiday into a day the whole world would celebrate as Independence Day.

 

_42,000 years ago, Anthro, the man that harnessed fire thanks to Metron, died of old age. But his legacy lived on. Another man, one no more than half Anthro’s age, lay a belt over the old man’s body in honor. And then, taking up his painting tools, started painting the image of a bat on the cave wall, not far from where Anthro had just refreshed the painting of the symbol of Metron._

**In Blackest Night**

 

The three months following the Final Crisis were quite busy. First, Clark hunted down Brainiac, but unfortunately he only led him to Earth. Brainiac then attempted to bottle up Metropolis much as he had a thousand others, but Kara and Kon stopped his probes. Clark then turned on Brainiac and destroyed him, but not before Brainiac managed to send one last probe to the Kent farm. The Kent’s just barely managed to avoid the probe, but it caused Jonathan to have a heart attack. Luckily Tim was there and managed to save him while Clark released the bottled city of Kandor near the Fortress. The people were naturally grateful to Kal, but were unwilling to integrate with the rest of humanity, and created a new planet for themselves near Earth, calling it New Krypton. However, there was one Kryptonian that refused to have any contact with the saved city. Kon had been summoned before the Council of New Krypton and was asked to break up with Tim and marry a Kryptonian girl. Naturally Kon was upset with the idea and gave them a simple answer. “No.”

“No?”

“No. And I’ll give you three good reasons as to why. One: I have no real ties to Krypton, New or otherwise. Two: I have a boyfriend-”

“We are aware of your relationship with Timothy Wayne.”

Kon continued as if the Council member hadn’t spoken. “Two: I have a boyfriend who I have been with for nearly three years now, one that has stuck with me through thick and thin. He even got himself disowned because of me. Three: I _love_ him. I have loved Tim since the day I met him, and I refuse to give him up. So go find someone else to have your Kryptonian babies. I refuse to, and don’t even bother asking me to come here again. I’ll just tell you what I’m going to now: Go to Hell.” Kon then left the Council chambers, leaving the four members in shock.

The criminals of Gotham had gone wild when they heard the news that Batman was dead, and the Bat-family was unable to keep Gotham under control, even with Kon’s help. Then the rumors started, rumors that a new Batman had come to Gotham, one that _killed_. Tim constantly argued with Dick that one of them had to take up the cape and cowl, and give Gotham back its Dark Knight. Dick said no so many times that Tim just gave up and took one of Bruce’s costumes and went out looking for the imposter. Well, he found the other Bat alright, who came complete with his own cave. Unfortunately, Jason was still the better fighter and managed to beat Tim, nearly killing him. It was only thanks to Kon and his super-hearing that the Bats managed to save Tim. Finally, after defeating Jason, Dick gave in and took on the role he was always meant to play: the Batman. But to everyone’s surprise, Dick took on _Damian al Ghul_ as his Robin and not Tim, to which Damian suggested that Tim take on the Bat _girl_ role! Kon was the one that convinced Tim to get past it and take on a new role, one where Tim could work alone if he needed to. So, Tim took on the persona and costume of Red Robin, a former identity of Jason, one that he had used just before the Final Crisis.

Out in space, it was even worse than Gotham, as the Sinestro Corps continued to wage its war against the Green Lanterns. But as the war raged on, three more Corps were born. First the Star Sapphires, wielding the Violet Light of Love, as they joined the Green Lanterns in their war against Sinestro’s Fear Corps. Then Atrocitus of Ryut, one of only five survivors of the Massacre of Sector 666, harnessed the Red Light of Rage on the planet Ysmault to battle both Sinestro and the Guardians, intent on destroying both Corps. To battle both Yellow and Red, the Guardians Ganthet and Sayd created the Blue Lantern Corps on the paradise planet Odym, wielding Hope in their rings. But the Blue Lantern rings had one major flaw, as hope is hollow on its own, so the Blue rings would only work to their fullest potential if a Green Lantern were nearby. Then the Controllers, another offshoot of the Guardians, visited Okaara of the Vega system, unleashing Larfleeze, the only wielder of the Orange Light of Avarice. The Guardians had feared that these other corps would rise, as a three part prophecy foretold that it would proceed the Blackest Night, an event that would end all life in the universe.

 

_A face of flesh and metal shall speak the secrets of the 52_

_Fear will rise, willpower will gather_

_And a War of Light will unleash the truth behind the power of the ring_

_Seven corps will be born_

_Seven corps will shine their light brightly_

_Seven corps will be at war_

_The skies shall darken, the shadows shall hiss_

_Then the Blackest Night shall descend upon all_

_And the seven corps shall fall_

 

The first verse had been fulfilled by the Sinestro Corps War, as Hank Henshaw/Cyborg Superman, had learned the secret of the 52 Multiverse, and Sinestro had harnessed the power of Fear more than five years before. The rise of the other five corps had initiated the War of Light as prophesied by the second verse. And unfortunately for the universe, the third and final verse was about to be fulfilled.

 

The day Superman had died had become a worldwide holiday, specifically for remembering the heroes who had died in the line of duty, and all around the world, people gathered at their tombs. The largest being Valhalla Cemetery in Metropolis, the former resting place of Superman. And though the tomb was empty, they still left it untouched, just in case the unthinkable happened, and the world lost him again. At the grave of Ronnie Raymond, one half of the Firestorm matrix, Gen Hewitt was the first to notice things weren’t quite right that day, because although it was raining there, everything was _dying_. That night was the night the Blackest Night fell, and the dead started to rise. All over the universe, at one instant-no matter if it was the middle of the night or high noon, the skies turned dark and the dead rose. Hero, villain, and civilian alike, young and old, long dead or recently buried, the Black rings of Death took them all so long as they had an emotional connection to the living. J’onn was raised on Mars, in Smallville, Kal-L, Lois of Earth-2 and Psycho Pirate struck. In Gotham, Mary and John Grayson were raised along with Jack Drake and several of Batman’s rogues, including Tony Zucco. In San Francisco, several dead Titans and their dead enemies rose, including the old Hawk and Terra. However, Don Hall/Dove I refused to rise, again. In space, all the dead Lanterns, no matter what Corps, rose, which mostly created problems for the Red and Orange Corps, seeing as how they killed many hundreds if not thousands of sentient beings.

In Gotham, Zucco recreated the night that the Flying Graysons trio became a solo act while Jack Drake and Captain Boomerang did something similar to Tim. “Tim, you’re finally home. Good, I want you to listen to me. If he gets me again, I need you to know something: it’s not your fault, okay? You didn’t do this. I love you, Tim. I love you just like your mother loves you. What you do for all those people, it’s worth it, son. Never question it, it’s worth it.”

“Not bad, I almost believed you really were my dad. But you made two mistakes. First, Mr. Drake never supported my decision to be Robin. Second, he _disowned_ me, and he refused to talk to me no matter what I did. The only way he’d have talked to me is if I broke up with Kon and quit being Robin. Sorry, but you lose.” Then, to Black Lantern Jack Drake’s surprise, Red Robin started beating him up! Eventually, Dick came up with a plan that saved both him and Tim from the Black Lanterns, and they went their separate ways again, Dick staying in Gotham while Tim headed for Smallville to check on his boyfriend.

In Smallville, Kon and Clark were having their own troubles as they were battling Kal-L and Psycho Pirate. It was a long, hard fight, but eventually they managed to beat them thanks to some information that Kal-L accidentally gave them-their rings were what kept regenerating them, allowing Kon to turn his TTK on the rings, destroying them and turning the zombies back to normal corpses. Tim got there just as they had finished putting out the handful of fires that had started thanks to the fight. “Kon! Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine Tim. What are you doing here? I thought you were in Paris.”

“I got a call from Dick about what was going on, and as soon as we finished up in Gotham I came here. Right now though, we’ve got to get to Coast City.”

“Coast? Why’s that Tim?”

“Deadman said something about the Black Lanterns gathering there, Clark. Coast City is the new frontline in this war. Now, I can get Kon there a lot faster in my plane than he could if he flew by himself.” Kon looked like he was about to argue, but then he realized the benefits. Alone with Tim in a plane that could fly itself, Kon suddenly couldn’t wait to get going.

 

On the morning of October 31, the plane landed in front of the Black Lantern Battery, an enormous black lantern that was easily the size of a four story house. And in front of the Lantern stood a Grim Reaper-like figure that stood close to twenty feet tall. “I don’t believe it. _Nekron_.”

“You know this guy, Kon?”

“Yeah, Dad told me about him last year. He’s the Lord of the Unliving. Dad and the rest of the Corps faced him a few years ago and just barely defeated him, they lost a lot of Lanterns then. How the hell did he escape again?” Kon asked, just as the Lanterns destroyed a Guardian. The couple then joined in the battle, fighting the millions of Black Lanterns as hard as they could, until another Black ring flew out of the Battery, and when it got to Black Hand, another of Hal’s old enemies, it called out _Bruce Wayne of Earth, Rise!_ And as the ring commanded, the skull quickly became a Black Lantern version of Batman, much to the shock of the other heroes there.

 _“Many of you died, but you came back. And though some have questioned why they escaped death, you all failed to realize you did not escape death,”_ Nekron said, as the ring registered an emotional tether to certain heroes. _“You are still connected to it, to ME. I put myself between you and everlasting death. I allowed your numerous resurrections. You will help me expose the Guardian’s greatest secret and return this universe to a place of quiet, dark order.”_ While Nekron was speaking, what most of the heroes failed to notice was that nine more Black rings came from the Black Lantern Batman and attached themselves to seven of the heroes. _Diana Prince of Earth, Kal-El of Krypton, Bart Allen of Earth, Buddy Baker of Earth, Tora Olafsdotter of Earth, Oliver Queen of Earth, Donna Troy of Earth, DIE!_ And once again, as the ring commanded, the seven became Black Lanterns.

“What happened?” Carol Ferris, the Star Sapphire of Sector 2814 asked.

“A swarm of Black rings is trying to take control of the living as well as the dead.” This speaker was Saint Walker, the Blue Lantern of Sector 1.

“Not the living, Walker. The resurrected.” However, there were still two Black rings unaccounted for. _Hal Jordan of Earth, Barry Allen of Earth._ The rings had just announced their targets, and Kon immediately hunted them down, intent on saving his Dad from such a terrible fate. But before he could catch the ring, Barry started running, with Hal attached to him via the ring. Once they returned, Carol mentioned that they weren’t doing enough to stop the Battery and Nekron. “Because even together we’re a fraction of the White Light.”

Ganthet agreed, and taking Hal’s ring, he duplicated it, with the double instantly flying to Kon. _Conner Kent of Earth, You have the ability to overcome great Fear. Welcome to the Green Lantern Corps._ His uniform changed from his usual T-shirt and jeans into a uniform nearly identical to Hal’s, except it still had the S-shield, while over the shield lay a glowing version of the symbol of the Green Lanterns. “What the hell? What’s going on Dad?”

“Although each of you wield different light, your rings are all based on Oan technology. And unbeknownst to you they contain the same safeguard. According to the Book of Oa, in the shadow of the Blackest Night, the rings are capable of deputizing an individual for twenty-four hours.”

“You don’t control our rings!” Atrocitus raged at him.

“Nor do I wish to, Atrocitus. But as my last act as Guardian, I have already triggered the process.” As he spoke, the six remaining rings all duplicated and started looking for people to wield them. Four of the rings didn’t have far to go, as they claimed people that were already there. The Red ring chose Mera of Atlantis, the Indigo ring claimed Atom, while the Violet ring chose Diana, after battling the Black ring for control. The Blue ring also chose someone there, but it had trouble choosing between two people. It eventually chose though. _Timothy Drake of Earth, You have the ability to instill great Hope. Welcome to the Blue Lantern Corps._ When the Blue ring took Tim, it also changed his uniform, as the red quickly changed to blue, and the bird symbol on his chest was replaced by the symbol of the Blue Lanterns. And for the second time in his life, Tim was able to get into a fight as an equal with his boyfriend.

Together, the young couple joined the other five deputy Lanterns and quickly took down thousands of the Black Lanterns, they were that in tune with each other. Tim had planned on going after Nekron and the Battery, but Kon had convinced him not to, and then explained what he’d heard his dad and the other Lanterns say, that their light wasn’t enough to stop either, so they needed to focus on the soldiers instead of the general. But just because they weren’t firing on the ‘general’ didn’t mean that they weren’t aware of him, after all, they were both trained detectives. (Bruce had started teaching Kon things the minute they left Gotham after the Infinite Crisis, Tim had started the day they joined the Titans.) As they watched, the Lord of the Unliving killed a Guardian and Black Hand gutted him, putting the guts on a pattern that they hadn’t seen before, one that, with the yellow blood of the Guardian filling it, looked like a radiant sun. And from the symbol, came an entity that looked like a giant alien angel, one that was completely white. Hal realized that the entity needed a host to unleash its power, and attempted to take control, but Sinestro beat him to it.

Using the power of the Entity, Sinestro attempted to kill Nekron, but failed. Nekron then split Sinestro from the Entity, leaving it free for him to attack it again. Then every Lantern of every Corps joined the fight, all of them turning their rings on Nekron, but it _still_ had no effect on the Lord of the Unliving. So Hal decided to try a different tactic. He joined with the Entity and created a small White Lantern Corps made up of the resurrected, and they turned the White Light on not Nekron, but his tether to the world of the living, William ‘Black’ Hand, resurrecting him. And through Hand, another white ring was created, resurrecting, of all creatures, the Anti-Monitor of Qward-the being that had been serving as the power source for the Black Lantern Battery. After Nekron had sent the Anti-Monitor back to it’s home universe, Hand created twelve more White rings that all went out for hosts, while also disintegrating Nekron. _Amon Tomaz of Earth, Jennie-Lynn Hayden of Earth, Digger Harkness of Earth, Hank Hall of Earth, Maxwell Lord of Earth, Ronnie Raymond of Earth, Eobard Thawne of Earth, Carter Hall of Earth, Kendra Saunders of Earth, Arthur Curry of Earth, J’onn J’onzz of Mars, Boston Brand of Earth: LIVE._ The White Light had not only ended the Blackest Night, but it had resurrected a dozen of the dead, for what purpose, no one knew. All they knew was that the Blackest Night was over, and it was time to embrace the Brightest Day.

 

**In Brightest Day**

 

While others focused on the repercussions of the Blackest Night, Kon and Tim just continued life as if nothing had changed, until one night changed everything. Tim had been working to take down the League of Assassins from the inside, and had almost succeeded when Ra’s al Ghul came to Gotham intent on destroying Bruce’s legacy. He had sent members of the League after all those connected to Bruce, that Tim knew. What he _didn’t_ know was that one of the targets, Vicki Vale had been talking to Tamara Fox about Tim and his secret, and in her rush to cover for him, Tam said that she was engaged to Tim. Tim managed to defeat al Ghul’s plan by calling in help to defend Bruce’s friends and by claiming his inheritance from Bruce: Bruce’s shares and position of CEO in Wayne Enterprises, while fighting Ra’s himself. Tim wasn’t quite good enough a fighter to even come even with Ra’s and was nearly killed when Ra’s kicked him out the window, but not before Ra’s called Tim by a title that, thus far, he had reserved only for Bruce: detective. Fortunately for Tim, Kon managed to catch him before he fell even three stories, taking him by the Batcave so Alfred could take care of him. But not before Kon gave Ra’s the scare of his life by telekinetically throwing his sword at him, pinning him to the wall by his shoulder, while burning a message in the sword: _Don’t touch my boyfriend, Demon._

When Tim awoke, Damian and Kon were arguing, as usual, but it stopped as soon as Kon realized Tim was awake. After explaining what happened with Ra’s, Tim turned to his boyfriend. “Um, Kon? You’re, uh, _glaring_ at me. Are you okay?”

“I don’t know. Is there anything that maybe, just _maybe_ , you might have forgotten to mention to me last night? Anything slip your mind that you _may_ have wanted to tell me?”

Tim was really confused, and even more confused when Damian handed him the paper saying “Congratulations, you dog.”

He then looked down at the paper. _Oh_ , no wonder Kon was upset with him. The headline read: _Waynegagement? Teen Wayne Heir Tim Drake To Wed Older Woman_ , with a picture of Tam Fox. “How long was I out for?” First thing Tim had to do was fix that little _misunderstanding_. One hour later, he officially cleared the air with Kon, and got things back on track with him. A few weeks after that, Tim finally had a press conference that allowed him to correct the public’s view on him. Maria Amardosa of GCN News was the one that asked the question. “Well, since you asked, the truth is I _have_ recently become engaged, but _not_ to Tamara Fox. I recently proposed to my oldest and best friend, someone that I have loved since the day we met. My actual fiancée is Connor Kent, the son of the _Daily Planet_ ’s star reporters Clark Kent and Lois Lane.” _That_ shocked the entire paparazzi into silence. The adopted son of billionaire Bruce Wayne was _gay_? And engaged to the son of two of their own?

The next morning, Tim turned to Kon and asked him “You don’t mind that I went public with our engagement, do you?”

“Nah, I don’t mind. The only thing I _do_ mind is that even after we get married, we won’t be considered married back in Smallville.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Don’t you know? Gay marriage is unconstitutional in Kansas. I guess I’m going to have to move in with you.” Tim just smiled at that, certain that they could handle whatever life threw at them.


End file.
